WELL, THAT WAS IT, Summer has been and gone and we never even noticed it. Despite the forecast by the Met Office, it has been a great disappointment for all those families taking their holidays at home and for our hotels and guest houses who had planned for better things. And unless you are a Member of Parliament or a wealthy ex-banker, or Tony Blair, there isn’t a lot to look forward to after the break.
Hopefully the predicted Swine Flu pandemic will now abate and we will see a reduction in the number of casualties coming back from Afghanistan. There has to be some good news around the corner, but I just hope it’s not the Met Office predicting it!
“ANY SUGGESTION that the inquiry into the alleged misuse of a council credit card by a former leader was a ‘whitewash’ could not be further from the truth.” So said Bexley Council’s finance director. Well I for one don’t buy it and neither will the many angry pensioners in the borough, who already feel robbed at handing over up to a quarter of their pensions for one of the highest Council Taxes in the country. Councillor Len Newton (Lord Bexley), made his own position very clear when he glibly observed that “Clement’s was a very naughty boy.” No apology or undertaking that the matter would be pursued further.
You will recall last month I referred to the ‘cronies’ who had supported Clement whilst in office and apparently turned a blind eye to his alleged misdemeanours. Cllr Newton’s contemptuous attitude comes as no surprise, because his long service to Bexley inevitably places him in a position of some influence and I feel some younger committee members may be intimidated by his seniority. I can appreciate the need to draw a veil over this unsavoury episode, to keep it out of the national press and to spare the embarrassment of the borough and its officials. But I am still left wondering how many other ‘naughty boys’ occupy council seats or positions of office?
WHAT I AM GOING TO SAY NOW is quite possibly a complete waste of my time, a complete waste of your time reading it – and a complete waste of valuable space in this paper. Why? Because I have covered this topic on many previous occasions and still no one appears to have been listening. The robotic response “lessons have been learned” are no more than empty meaningless words, yet with each new horrific case of child abuse, torture and murder, we appear to get no closer to dealing with the problem. I say ‘we’ because in some way we are all responsible for allowing the authorities to continue to fail us in their duty of protection.
With each new inquiry a clear message of bungled bureaucracy and red tape emerges, with blame levelled at those lower down in the hierarchy, who feel overwhelmed and intimidated by the system in which they work. Most local authority employees and junior managers will immediately recognise this scenario relating to their own jobs. Regrettably, we now live in a blame and compensation culture that morally stifles personal initiative and the need to ‘do the right thing.’
To continue wasting time and space, I shall repeat myself: anyone having the slightest suspicion of a child being cruelly mistreated MUST NOT HESITATE to report the matter to the police, without fear of recrimination or persecution. Police, social workers, health professionals, neighbours and even family members must not flinch from their responsibility, even if subsequently proven wrong. So what, if we’ve made a mistake; so what, if a police officer bypasses his chain of command to take personal action; so what, if a junior social services worker upsets her line manager by not submitting lengthy reports in triplicate and takes matters into her own hands; so what, if a doctor refuses to release a battered child back into the family home and risks being struck off; so what, if we fall out with a neighbour for suspecting them from evidence we have seen or heard. All we should ever care about is the safety and wellbeing of a tiny vulnerable helpless child, that deserves our help – all of us. It might help to focus our minds if we recall the shocking pictures of baby Peter Connelly’s battered body and the grave where he is finally laid to rest, away from the evil monsters who put him there.
CANNOT THE EQUALITY-OBSESSED Harriet Harman see the folly of her dictum in proposing a mathematical balance of power for her species? Perhaps she would like to see all major organisations run by women. Is she unable to see that her strong left-wing feminist dogma is partially responsible for the failure of old-fashioned family values where children are raised in a safe secure environment where there is a mother AND a father to take responsibility, rather then the State.
She and her followers have done more harm than good and it will take a long time to turn things around. Equal gender lists and artificial quotas are an absolute insult to women, who would prefer to make it on their own ability. Margaret Thatcher led the way in asserting women’s independence, without any such help, on her way to become Britain’s first female prime minister. Indeed, she would have been highly offended at any suggestion otherwise. She made one giant step for womankind, which is something Harriett Harm-man will never achieve.
YOU KNOW, the more I see of Tony Blair, the more I despise him. He is photographed aboard a billionaire’s luxury yacht off the coast of Sardinia, relaxing in the sunshine, sporting celebrity dark glasses and a new-style playboy haircut. At the same time, a grim procession of flag-draped coffins arrives back from Afghanistan, to be greeted by grieving families and strangers lining the streets. The contrast could not be greater or more profound, or my hatred for that duplicitous playboy politician more intense.
MONDAY 20th JULY. A massive power failure hit Bexley residents and surrounding areas and was reminiscent of the wartime Blitz. Shops closed, traffic signals failed, petrol stations closed down, invalids were stranded by inoperable stair lifts. No TV pictures, no radio broadcasts, unless you had a wind-up or battery-operated set. Those who rely on mobile telephones to communicate found themselves isolated when the batteries ran down and could not be recharged.
On this day, news of another soldier blown to pieces by the Taliban, rain sweeping in from the west, Parliament was preparing to disappear for 82 days despite the dire economic situation and the Swine Flu pandemic relentlessly marching on through the country. A lot was happening and it was difficult to take it all in. But I shall remember two things in particular. We were celebrating the 40th anniversary of man’s arrival on the surface of the Moon. And closer to home, amidst all the misery, we celebrated England’s cricketing hero Andrew Flintoff’s record five wickets against the Australians in the second Test Match; the first time England have won an Ashes match at Lords for 75 years. Flintoff is my unquestionable nomination for a knighthood for bringing some much-needed light into the doom and gloom. Arise “Sir Freddy.” (wonky knee permitting!).
AM I ALONE in feeling a crumb of comfort from the allegations that our security services have been complicit in torturing terrorist suspects? It is a relief to learn that there is someone out there willing to protect the interests of genuine UK citizens as they go about their daily lives. All too often our ineffective legal system appears to be strongly biased in favour of those who wish us harm and if it requires some additional pressure to obtain evidence, then as far as I’m concerned, so be it. I don’t imagine vulnerable passengers on London’s transport network will be too fussy about the inner-workings of those charged with national security and will welcome the possibility that our government really cares about us after all.
CAN WE REALLY CRITICISE the Americans for demanding the extradition of Gary McKinnon to face serious charges of computer hacking in a US court? They are still reeling from the shock of the destruction of the World Trade Centre and the thousands of lives lost, so we can hardly blame them for feeling a little edgy. Considering the number of home-grown terrorists coming out of the UK and hell-bent on destroying western civilisation, I believe we should unhesitatingly give our fullest support to the Americans in their quest for security in their homeland. This man has confessed to his crime but his trial has been delayed because he conveniently developed a medical condition after the alleged offence took place.
Frankly, I am amazed that someone with such an illness could have the ability to outwit the ultra-sensitive military computer installation at the Pentagon – and now employs some very clever lawyers to protect him from deportation. Obviously he would prefer to be tried in a British court, because he would probably get off with just an ASBO, suspended for two years.
ONE OF THE MOST honourable politicians this country has ever been blessed with has to be former prime minister Clement Attlee. I strongly recommend that every MP purchases a copy of Frank Field’s “Attlee’s Great Contemporaries” as a lesson in how to put public duty before self gratification. In fact, on this occasion I wouldn’t even object if they charge the £16.99 on their expenses, provided they promise to study it and learn from it.
THE STOCK MARKET continues to be volatile, but there are three areas that can be relied upon to give a reasonably constant return on investment. Eating, giving birth and dying. Shares in the leading supermarkets are a safe bet as they fight each other to feed our clinically obese nation; Mothercare shares have risen by 20 per cent in value this year, boosted by an increase in immigrant births — and funeral directors have a guaranteed business, irrespective of the world-wide recession. I offer this financial advice free as it’s got to be better than the insulting interest rates from National Savings & Investments.
POSTAL WORKERS are conducting a campaign of industrial action to protect their jobs. Inevitably they have been greatly affected by the increase in electronic mail and communications, bypassing the centuries-old letter writing, hand delivery tradition. This of course is called progress and there isn’t an industry or business in the world that hasn’t been affected by such change, reducing the number of people it needs to employ.
But there has to be a certain irony here. How many postal workers themselves and their families, are regular users of e-mails and mobile telephones, unwittingly contributing to their own demise? Instead of fighting a futile war and biting the hand that feeds them, why not get out the pens, Basildon Bond, write their message, tuck it inside an envelope, stick on a stamp and pop it into one of those odd red things still seen on street corners! If enough of them do it, they could save the day and at the same time return us to a more civilised society.
HAVE YOU BEEN TWEETED YET? I’m not sure if I have, but I sometimes feel a twinge in my right big toe, which may be someone trying to contact me! Or perhaps it’s just too much whisky? With all this electronic gadgetry and messages passing through cyberspace, how long will it be until all human contact is lost completely? Will the human form as we know it exist in future millennium and if so, in what configuration? Will evolution eliminate legs for example, now they have become redundant for most purposes. Office workers are working from home on computers, shopping is ordered online and delivered by van to the doorstep, entertainment is available on TV and the internet at all times of the day and night, hot meals are delivered by lads on pop-pop bikes and we can diagnose our illnesses on-line without visiting the GP.
I predict that at some time in the future, we won’t have a leg to stand on!